Instances
by insipidity
Summary: Kaldur/Artemis. Elaborates their relationship behind the scenes of YJ, taking the comics into account. Kaldur's POV is thought-out and systematic, while hers is much more fragmented. First SeaArrow fic, let me know how you like it :
1. Chapter 1

MOUNT JUSTICE

August 9, 00:05 EDT

After the Computer had announced his designation, Kaldur slowly walked over to the hall. Chesire's jellyfish poison still stung a little. It was true that he was mostly immune to it, but getting several jellyfish toxin-dipped shuriken stuck to his body was, as Chesire had put it, testing the limit. The other members of his team had already crossed over. Superboy was waiting for him with his usual sour look on his face. When he saw that Kaldur was looking at him, he tried to look more friendly. M'gann told them she wanted to take a shower, and floated away, cheerful as ever. Wally sped after her, clearly intending to steal a peek. Robin said he needed to get to Batman who had a mission for him. He waved them goodbye and exited. Superboy threw his hands in the air and muttered something about taking a walk. Kaldur briefly wondered what exactly was it that Superboy did when they weren't on a mission somewhere, but decided it was not his place to pry.

Realizing he had been left alone, Kaldur grabbed one of his wounds and cowered slightly.

"Hurts, does it?"

Kaldur started, alarmed by the sudden presence of another person in the hall. It was Artemis, the newcomer. "Indeed." He shook his head. Normally, he should have been able to tell when somebody was in close proximity of him. It must have been the venom that was interfering with his senses.

"Do you need help?"

Kaldur noticed Artemis looking rather unsure of herself, and not at all the defiant girl she had made herself out to be during their missing to protect Dr. Serling. She didn't look like the type who offered unsolicited help all that often, and Kaldur thought it best to encourage her by accepting her help.

A few minutes later in the kitchen, Kaldur sat on one of the chairs and Artemis took a bottle of vinegar from the fridge and placed it on the table. She found antiseptic and some cotton balls from the medicine cabinet and placed them on the table as well. The look on her face was very serious, but ultimately indifferent. She looked like she was used to cleaning wounds, and this was no different from countless times before. Kaldur wasn't sure if it made him trust her more or less.

Artemis was looking at him expectantly. "What?" Kaldur asked her.

"Take off your shirt. I can't treat the wounds through the fabric."

Kaldur shouldn't have been surprised, but at that moment, with the toxin in his system, he was. It wasn't proper to disrobe when it was the two of them. True, only a day earlier he had been to the beach wearing only shorts while M'gann and the rest of the team (sans Wally and now Artemis) had been there, and that he came from a culture where wearing little was considered the norm, but he had studied the world above the surface and had concluded that even partial nudity had a more powerful effect there. Moreover, he was the team leader, and therefore-

"Hands up", Artemis commanded, and Kaldur instinctively obeyed. Artemis pulled the messy red sleeveless shirt over his shoulders and threw it on the floor. Evidently Artemis had gotten tired of waiting for him to take the shirt off himself. Thankfully Artemis didn't seem bothered by his bare upper body and he could concentrate on being still for the care. She soaked one of the cotton balls in vinegar and dabbed the wound under Kaldur's left rib. She systematically went through all of his wounds and then treated them with antiseptic to avoid infection. When she was done, she threw away the cotton balls and placed the bottles back to the places she had gotten them from. Then she carefully washed her hands.

Kaldur carefully stretched his arms. "I am sincerely grateful for your help..", he started to say.

"It's nothing." Artemis sat down again and leaned her shoulders on the kitchen table, staring at the wall distractedly.

"..it is, after all, the second time you've saved me today", Kaldur finished.

At that, Artemis turned to look at him coyly and seemed unsure of what to say. She opted not to say anything, smiling awkwardly.

"I believe you will make a fine member of the team." Kaldur tried to make his words sound as sincere as possible, as he was afraid Artemis would think he was being sarcastic or making fun of her.

"Yeah, Wally seemed _ecstatic_ to have me here", Artemis said and rolled her eyes.

"He needs..time to get used to having you here." He placed his right hand on her shoulder. He felt Artemis needed encouragement and as leader, it was his job to offer it to her. "You belong here."

Artemis smiled back at him. Kaldur smiled as well, delighted by having established a rapport with her. After a moment passed, he realized he was still holding her shoulder and she was starting to look slightly uncomfortable. He let go and apologized. Artemis waved it off. She then said it was getting late and that she'd probably best get home. She nodded in farewell to him and walked away.

After she had gone, Kaldur picked up the messy piece of clothing from the floor. Holding it, he noticed that the color brought to his mind the vivid memory...of Tula. He sighed. Some times he was the one in need of a pep talk, but alas, nobody was around to give one to him. He decided that a good night's sleep was sure to give him peace. For now.


	2. Chapter 2

HONOLULU

August 13, 19:06 HST

To Artemis, Kaldur looked like he was trying to keep up with Wade Eiling's son and daughter's spirited conversation, but every once in a while he glanced at her as if to make sure she was alright. She was wearing a dark teal dress that made her feel more like a civilian than she did in her regular civvies. It had only been a couple of days since she had officially joined the team, and she wasn't sure how she felt about everything so far. Kaldur had been nice to her, but she figured it was more of a team leader thing than anything else. Still, she supposed she appreciated his efforts nonetheless. M'gann seemed sincerely friendly towards her, even going as far as to dub her her 'sister'. Superboy, for his part, seemed indifferent towards her. So much for White Rabbit. Kid Flash, with some _encouragement_ from M'gann, had gone from open hatred to simply ignoring her the few times she had seen him since their first real mission together. She wasn't sure exactly why he pissed her off so much, but he did and there was little to be done about it. Whether he talked to her or was giving her the silent treatment, he just vexed her.

Later at the beach, Artemis took off her shoes to wade in the water for a bit. Kaldur followed her suit, although it turned out he hadn't even been wearing shoes to begin with. He didn't even bother rolling up his pants to avoid them getting wet, he simply walked after her, taking the cooling sensation in as he did so. During the short time they had spent together, Artemis had never seen him smile with such glee. He had a lovely smile.

She talked to him about the case they were working on, but she soon realized Kaldur wasn't listening. His eyes were set on the horizon and his radiant smile had faded into that of longing. After she managed to snap him out his daze, he told her about his parents. She had seen Black Manta with her father. She distinctly remembered a conversation they had had about Black Manta's son. Was Kaldur lying to her? Or was he not aware of his father's identity? Artemis decided she shouldn't see Kaldur as simply the result of his heritage. After all, that was what she was trying to escape from herself. Still, it was worth staying alert about. Better safe than sorry.

METROPOLIS

August 14, 01:45 EDT

At the diner, Artemis sat next to Robin. She expected Wally to sit next to her, but at the last minute he noticed that the spot next to M'gann was still free, and sat next to her. She wondered how come nobody noticed M'gann being in her Martian form, but didn't ask because she didn't want to sound idiotic in case the answer was something obvious. She sighed and stretched her leg on the free space next to her.

"Excuse me."

She looked up to see Kaldur look at her expectantly. She realized he was the only one left standing. "Sorry." She moved her leg back next to her other one, and Kaldur moved to occupy the place her leg had just been on. They went through the debriefing telepathically. Towards the end, Artemis accidentally slid the screen of her phone to make the information they had just uploaded not disappear but take a while to find again, so she figured she would simply look at Kaldur's phone which should've contained the same information. However, when she took a look at his phone, to her surprise she saw a picture of a red headed girl. She didn't remember anyone looking like that concerning the mission they were working on, so she wondered who it was. Kaldur had never mentioned a girl outside their work. Although, truth be told, they had been working together for under a week, so perhaps it wasn't that surprising that she wasn't allowed access to everything in his private life. The girl was definitely unrelated to him, as they looked nothing alike. A girlfriend? Artemis shook her head. It was not like it was her job to know about her teammates' significant others. What did she care?

SALEM

August 19, 20:43 EDT

Falling to a pit of lava was not Artemis' idea of a good time, and if he had only been close enough, she would've smacked Wally's face to next year. Alas, there was the impending doom to avoid. She shot her grappling hook arrow upwards and prayed it would stick to the wall. As soon as she felt the cord connect to something, she grabbed Kaldur who was falling just above her. Thankfully he didn't disturb her balance and they hit the wall steadily enough. Kaldur held his left arm over her shoulder. "My physiology, and M'gann's, are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly." He wiped his forehead and Artemis realized he had actual webs between his fingers. She impulsively reached out her hand to test them, but placed her hand on the skin on his neck instead. He felt even hotter than her own skin. Kaldur was right. She needed to get him out of there.

SALEM

August 21, 16:07 EDT

At Kent Nelson's funeral, Artemis stood behind Red Tornado as he said some words about the man who had passed away. She was genuinely moved over his death. Even though they had just met, the man had given his life to protect the team, or more precisely Wally. He was what Artemis felt she should strive to aim for. A true hero. The rain gave her the freedom to let her eyes dampen without appearing weak. Or so she thought. She felt someone place a strong arm on her back. It was Kaldur. He had been standing next to her, beside his mentor, Aquaman. His expression was the epitome of sorrow mixed with concern for her. For a moment, she leaned into him and allowed herself to need his support. She didn't look at him. She kept her eyes keenly on the ground. She then broke his hold on her and gently placed her hand on his arm to thank him, all the while not looking at him. She then followed the other superheroes who were heading back. She turned to see if Kaldur was staring after her. He wasn't, but Aquaman was. He had a stern look on his face, and he seemed puzzled over something. All the while watch Artemis, he whispered something into Kaldur's ear, who responded by nodding thoughtfully.


End file.
